Mount



S. G. GREEN March 9, 1937.

MOUNT Filed Jan. 25, 1935 Inv Entrar Samuel B Erean.

Patented Mar. 9, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFIQE 2 Claims.

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30,

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a mount and is particularly applicable as a mount for light guns of the class generally described as machine guns. In combat it frequently becomes necessary to make immediate and rapid changes from one target to another and between different types of targets. In following a rapidly moving aerial target the gun should be mounted for free traversing movement but on slow moving ground targets better results are obtained by employing a controlled traversing movement through a gear system.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a light mount in which a standard or similar supporting member is arranged to be readily clutched and declutched with a gear system.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of elements described hereinafter and pointed out in the claims forming a part of this specification.

A practical embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, where- 1n:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the improved mount.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the standard clutched to the gear system.

Fig. 3 is a similar fragmentary view showing the standard declutched from the gear system.

Referring to the drawing by characters of reference, there is shown a gear wheel 5 having an elongated hollow hub 6 whereby it is mounted vertically on a pair of anti-friction bearing units 'I-l in a housing 8. The gear wheel is driven by a pinion 9 on a shaft I which is mounted in the housing 8 and has a handwheel II on one end. The upper part of the gear wheel is formed into a socket by an annular wall I2 which terminates in a flange I3 that rests on the upper edge of the housing.

A standard I 4, adapted for example, to carry a gun, is formed with a base I5 receivable within the annular wall I2 and with a iiange I6 adapted to rest on the flange I3 of the gear wheel. A pintle I'I depending from the base I5 passes through the hollow hub 6 and has its lower extremity projecting below the hub. The lower i extremity is formed with an annular groove I8 for receiving a latch which, in the present instance, is in the form of a ring I9 with an 55 internal diameter that is greater than the diameter of the pintle. The ring is moved into the groove I8 by a spring 20 and it is moved out of the groove by a bolt 2l. The latch is carried in a casing 22 which includes a cover 23 and is tted in the lower end of the housing.

The upper face of the gear wheel 5, which forms the oor of the socket constituted by the annular wall I2, is provided with a series of annularly arranged recesses 24. The recesses are adapted to receive a plunger 25 which is mounted in the base I5 of the standard and, under the influence of a spring 26, is projected through the base to form a coupling between the standard and the gear Wheel. The spring 26 embraces the plunger and is confined between a collar 21 on the plunger and a nut 28 threaded in the bore of a boss 29 on the upper face of the base.

The wall of the boss is provided with a recess or notch 30 preferably having one vertical edge 3| and one inclined edge 32, the latter constituting a cam. The upper edge of the boss is provided with a recess 33 positioned adjacent the inclined edge of the notch. A bar 34 secured to the plunger and disposed perpendicularly thereto is arranged to engage the recess 33 as shown in Fig. 3 or enter the notch as shown in Fig. 2, these positions corresponding respectively to the unlocked and locked position of the plunger. By virtue of this arrangement the standard may be readily clutched to and declutched from the gear wheel.

The handwheel II is provided with a scale 35 which is readable against an index 36 on the housing 8. A second scale 3l is provided on a ring 38 which is rotatably mounted on the housing adjacent the base I5 of the standard and is held in position of adjustment by a clamp 39. The scale 3T is readable against an index 4D on the base.

When the standard I4 is clutched to the gear wheel 5 through the plunger 25 it can only be rotated about its axis through the pinion 9 on the shaft I0. When the plunger is disengaged from the gear wheel by movement to the position shown in Fig. 3, the standard and the gear wheel can be rotated independently of each other.

I claim:

1. In a gun mount, a housing, a gear wheel mounted in the housing and having a socket in its upper part, the face of the gear wheel that forms the oor of the socket having a plurality of recesses, a standard having a base receivable in the socket of the gear wheel, a plunger mounted in the base of the standard, a spring normally urging the plunger into any one of the recesses, a bar on the upper end of the plunger, and a member on the standard having a cam surface and a recess adjacent the upper end of the 'cam surface, the cam surface and recess being engageable by the bar of the plunger.

2. In a gun mount, a housing, a gear Wheel mounted in the housing and having a socket in its upper part, the face of the gear Wheel that forms the floor of the socket having a p`lu rality of recessesLa standard having a base receivable in the socket of the gear Wheel, a. plunger mounted in the base of the standard, a spring normally urging the plunger into any one of the recesses, and means for holding the plunger clear of the gear Wheel.

SAMUEL G. GREEN. 

